Homel opposition
activist Uladzimir Katsora filed today a statement to the Regional Prosecutor’s
Office and head of the internal affairs department of Homel regional executive
committee to report on a criminal offense allegedly committed by police
officers. In his statement, the politician says that on September 22 traffic
police stopped a private minibus with delegates of a national conference for
the creation of a coalition "For Honest and Fair Elections for the Sake of
a Better Life."

Policemen initially
said the reason for the detention was that the vehicle was "similar"
to the one who was involved in a car accident. After the minibus driver was forced
to follow the policemen to the police station in Rechytsa, the "version"
of police officers changed, as there reportedly was a need to fingerprint the
driver.

In the end,
the policemen started pushing unfounded claims to the plate of the vehicle
body, and then, after about three hours after the forced detention, released
the driver without any charges, and without drafting any legal documents.

"As a
result of unreasonable obstruction by the police officers, the delegates were
unable to participate in the work of the national conference in Minsk, thus their
actions constitute a criminal offense under Article 194 of the Criminal Code,
namely preventing the legitimate activities of NGOs or interference with the
their legitimate activities, which resulted in a considerable breach of their
rights and legal interests,” says the statement. “On behalf of the delegates to
the national conference for the creation of a coalition “For Honest and Fair Elections
for the Sake of a Better Life” I declare that in this particular case your
subordinates were used in politically-motivated investigative activities.”

The
politician further says that the delegates demand to investigate the facts, and
identify the official who issued an order to persecute and detain the
delegates. Mr. Katsora also urges the Prosecutor and the police chiefs to open
a criminal case against the official, as well as against the police officers mentioned
in the statement.